Cybele is a primordial mother goddess whose worship spanned cultures and over a thousand years. She first appears in Phrygia, where she was associated with mountains, hawks, lions and the wilderness. Around 600 BCE, she was adopted by the Greeks, who considered her the mistress of the animals and related her to Rhea. In Rome, she was called Magna Mater and was the protector of the cities and their surrounding farmland.

This goddess is often portrayed enthroned and wearing the mural crown, which features the crenelations of city walls. Cybele is often accompanied by a lion and carries a frame drum, or tympanum. Her celebrations were wild and ecstatic, featuring animal sacrifices and armored dancers. Cybele's priesthood, the Galli, comprised eunuchs or third-gender people who castrated themselves in her service and dressed in female clothes. The Galli were thought to acquire the power of prophecy through their sacrifice.